August 25, 2026

Creamy leek and crab gratin

Leeks and crab is one of those pairings nobody argues with. The leeks go sweet and soft, the crab stays sweet and firm, and a browned top holds it together. A fifty-fifty mix of brown and white meat is the right buy here.

This recipe comes from Seafood & Eat It, the Newlyn crab company whose hand-picked Cornish crab we stock on the deli counter. Their original is here. We have written ours for a counter, so you can use picked meat from a whole crab or one of their pots.
Serves 2Prep 20 minTotal 35 min Order the crab

Ingredients

  • 100g picked crab meat, or 1 pot of Seafood & Eat It Fifty Fifty Crab (ask the counter and we pick a cooked crab)
  • 1 medium-sized leek, white and green
  • 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 30g knob butter
  • Zest of 2 lemons
  • 10 sage leaves, finely chopped
  • 40g breadcrumbs
  • 30g pecorino cheese finely grated
  • 20g blanched hazelnuts, roughly chopped
  • 200ml double cream
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and pepper

Method

  1. Melt the butter in a medium-sized pan over a low heat, add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add the leek and ½ the lemon zest to the pan and sweat for 5-6 minutes until wilted.
  2. Pour the cream over the leeks and garlic and warm through until bubbling. Stir in the crab, season to taste and remove from the heat. Pour the creamy leek and crab mixture into a suitable gratin dish.
  3. Mix the breadcrumbs with the sage, remaining lemon zest, pecorino and hazelnuts. Sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture over the creamy leek and crab, drizzle with a little olive oil and bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until the breadcrumbs are golden brown and the cream is bubbling up around the edges.

Shop this recipe: brown crab, the deli counter and what is on the counter today. Ask us to pick and dress a cooked crab.